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Cover image for Introducing recurBoy, a raspberry pi video instrument
Guergana Tzatchkova
Guergana Tzatchkova

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Introducing recurBoy, a raspberry pi video instrument

In the past months Tim Caldwell aka cyberboy666 and I (aka ichi raramuri) have been working on a very cool project called recurBOY, a raspberry pi zero based diy video-instrument for live performance on TVs that have composite output. This project is a spinoff from another project that Tim has been working on for a longer time called r_e_c_u_r (more info below) point_down, a more complex and complete video sampler / all-in-one fantastic video tool.

We lauched the project in its workshop form at the 2019 fu/bar glitch art festival in Zagreb, Croatia and we are very happy with the way it was received. If you don't know about this festival you should definitely check it out, it was an amazing combination of very talented and fun awesome people.

The motivation of the project:

for many people there is a barrier to enter the world of hardware video-art making instruments - both due to the general higher cost of video gear compared with audio equipment and in some cases its obsolescence and thus rarity.

this project aims to remove these financial barriers by enabling you to build your own art-making tools. by creating together we can learn from each other and help foster community in a physical space.

features

  • outputs sd composite video
  • 2 source modes : sampler and shaders
  • process any source with additional FX
  • control shader/fx parameters directly with 4x knobs or externally with 4x cv inputs

origin of the project

the recurBOY is a spinoff from an existing project tim has created and maintains - r_e_c_u_r : an open diy video sampler ; r_e_c_u_r is simple to assemble but can be more complex to operate due to its scope and customisablity. recurBOY distills the best parts, aiming to be simpler and more beginner friendly. it uses cheaper parts and runs on a raspberry pi zero which can be a fraction of the price of the pi3 used in r_e_c_u_r.

We are planning on giving more workshops, if you are interested in knowing more / booking us for a workshop contact us via github or write to us to tim@cyberboy666.com or in the comments section below.

recurBoy on Github:

GitHub logo cyberboy666 / recurBOY

a rpi0 video-instrument – created in collaboration with Guergana Tzatchkova

recurBOY

a rpi0 video-instrument – created in collaboration with Guergana Tzatchkova

image

  • this circuit is distributed by UNDERSCORES - an open video hardware label : it is available to purchase - as a pcb, kit or assembled unit - at underscores.shop
  • the schematic for the circuit can be found here
  • the pcb gerber files for the lastest version can be found here
  • interactive BOM is here
  • link to latest rpi image is here
  • consider donating to the underscores project to help us continue creating for the commons

description

recurBOY is a stand-alone digital video synthesizer and sampler. it can trigger clips and run shaders to create and manipulate sd video.

  • outputs sd video over composite or hdmi
  • 2 source modes to generate video : sampler and shaders
  • process any source with additional FX
  • control shader/fx parameters directly with 4x knobs or externally with 4x cv inputs
  • all inputs also controllable via…

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